Concord

[one-armed dwarf]

I would play the F2P reboot, but for it to be a success it'd probably need to make the character designs more exciting for people. I don't think they look that bad or anything but it's the main thing that seems to constantly come up, people comparing them to Overwatch designs which are obviously super expressive with tons of personality. While Concord's look a bit more beige

 

I mean realistically the whole thing is toxic so I don't even know that the F2P launch happens, but they got to at least try for something

[HandsomeDead]

I think I saw it best described that they look like mobs or shopkeepers at best from other games.  The robot to me looks like that idiot you push into a pit in Super Metroid*.

 

I do like the 50s pulpy style they're going for but there is such a lack of character for a hero shooter.  Even Paladins is way better than this.

 

*

Spoiler

 

[Maryokutai]

I said this before but I still believe it's the translation to 3D that is the problem, not the art style itself. The concept art is actually rather cool, even for those characters that look horrendous ingame, like this one:

 

 

This is probably the issue Gearbox ran into back in the day. Remember that first, ugly and very UE3 looking version of Borderlands? I think this game would need a visual rework along those lines. Less MCU, more Borderlands. But that's obviously not going to happen so I wonder what the move is here. They can't just throw it as-is on the market without a price sticker and hope it works out the second time.

[mmmark]

Studio shut down.

[Maf]

[one-armed dwarf]

Well, maybe they meant it in a more ironic way like Jack Baker in REVII.

 

Shit news, tough thing for those developers. Hard to know what to say about it really cause it was such an unprecedented bomb so no decision seems right or wrong sadly

[HandsomeDead]

Surely an interesting documentary comes out of this because it's wildly unprecedented.

[DANGERMAN]

what a mess. It was only last week people were expecting a F2P release because the Steam version was getting altered so often

[DisturbedSwan]

Cunts.

[Maf]

 

…

 

Where’s the Galaxy brain meme

 

I’m trying to think of one, big, live service style multiplayer game that came out of nowhere and hit jackpot day 1

 

Minecraft. GTA5 kinda although it’s GTA it had a strong start. Destiny - but that was 10 years ago and the scene and competition isn’t like it is now

 

But most of these big games start small and get big over time. I really think if they want to continue making live service stuff it needs to be smaller games tried and tested early. Don’t have a game in development for years at a time, let people play it early, engage with the reaction, be agile and make changes, see if the game has real interest. 
 

I know it’s not the big studio way but do you want to have a polished, $100-$200 million game that can’t last 2 weeks, or a rough product out in 2 years and start early access to see if it has potential. 

[mmmark]

There’s starting slow and there’s starting slow. Concord was a mismanaged unmitigated disaster that barely began at all. 

[Maryokutai]

9 hours ago, Maf said:

Minecraft.

 

Was that big from the get-go? I remember a very long early access period that was PC only for that game. I was thinking of PUBG, that came out of nowhere, at least from my perspective. Never heard of it and suddenly everyone was playing it.

 

Interestingly the point you make about letting a rough build out to test the waters is exactly what Valve has been doing with their hero shooter (forgot the name). Which, coincidentally, had a higher player count than Concord despite it being a closed-off alpha.

 

As for Firewalk, can't say I'm surprised. After all, the big suits at the top made a mistake, so someone at the bottom has to go. Though considering it was mostly a management failure while the game itself was well-made and polished (from a technical and mechanical standpoint) one can hope that it won't affect the developers future career paths at least.

[HandsomeDead]

I mean yeah, the rank and file are always gonna get hit worst after doing all the day to day graft and now it's all wasted and they need to get a new job.  But I think the key here isn't just management.  Creatively, it's just messed up to.  I'm just reminded now of that Max Landis film Bright because in the same way he would go around saying how he wrote this script and it's going to be the next Star Wars; same way Concord was described, and it also really wasn't.  Some of this is a creative team far too high on their own supply.  There's a healthy belief in your own work, which is essential, and there is delusion.

 

Also recently Jason Schreier has been on a podcast trail talking about his book on the history of Blizzard and there is an anecdote about Bobby Kotick when he first saw Overwatch and immediately saw the vision and threw his whole weight behind it.  Not a guy I like to give any props but my point is he knew a hit when he saw one and I don't know why there wasn't anyone along the way at Sony for the past say 4 years that didn't recognise a problem, that this wasn't going to be a game that attracts an audience.

[mfnick]